Whipstock



E TURNER mrsTocx Juhe 9 iled Feb. 5, 1928 I I I Patented June ,4, 1929.

'mm a. TURNER, or. sensuous, rExAst,

Application filed February 3, 1928. Serial No; 251,543.

My invention relates to whipstocks to be employed in well drilling, operations to change the course of the well bore when, for some reason, the bottom of the well has. been filled with tools, pipe or other material, making it impossible for the drill to proceed. These tools or pipe which may be accidentlyleft in the bottom of the well are usually termed junk and when the well has been thus junked, a whipstock is employed" to,

divert a milling-cutter or other similar tool through the'side of the casing and past the junk so that the hole may" be continued downwardly without the necessity of milling up, the metal at the bottom of 'the hole..

The usual diflieulties encountered 1 in the use of ordinary whipstock are that the head of the whipstock will not remain stationary butis liable to rotate'with the milling cutter '2 when the attempt is made vto sidetrack the drill by cutting through the wall of the casing. A hole may be started through the wall of the casing by deflection of the cutter: when it contacts with the sloping face of V the whipstock, but the whipstock may rotate so asto swing the' milling cutter around at -'a different angle so that the opening which is started at one side of the casing will be started; it being impossible to prevent the whipstock from rotation.

It is an object of my invention to provide a whipstock for use 1n sidetracking operations, which will not turn or change its posi- .';5 tion in the well after it has once been set for operation.

It is desired to provide a'whipstock which is adaptable for casings of different sizes and which may be easily placed in position 40 for o eration.

Re erring to the drawing herewith, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a whipstock embodying myv invention shown in a casing, said casing being in longitudinal section. Fig. .2 is a similar view, illustrating the tool in set position. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the plane 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a transverse section on the plane 4--4 of Fig. 1. Like numerals are employed to designate like parts in all the views. The body of my whipstock is of solid metal, such as steel, and comprises a head 1 of an outline generally cylindrical to fit within a well casing 2. One side of the 56 body is tapered toward the upper end porend of the taper.

tour of the'h'eadl and is grooved longitudi- 4 of the head but, at a more abrupt taper.

closed by the whipstock and a new one .thecasing that no rotation of the tool in tion at 3 and this tapered surface i "reessfed or concaved,*'as shown at 4 in Fig. 4, to' serve as a guidefor a cutting head such as aflmilllng cutterand will act to force iragainst:

the side vof'the casing. This" concave dljsur, ho

face j extends from the upper end] downwardly along the beveled facefor th'ejfull;

length of the bevel.-

froma point '7- therein,

" A wedge-shaped dog ,8 fits within the gen .4 toward, the lower end thereof. Its upper -.end comesto an edge at 5. It has a tongue or key 10 thereon fittingslidably within the groove 6 to hold s'aidzdog in position in the seat 4;. The outerfsurface ofthe dog is rounded to conform to the cylindrical conn'a'lly to provide teeth-ll adapted to grip fits.withinfthe1'seat.-4 .,and is b'eveled at 12 and concavedg-to continue; the guide groove I I may providea shear pin l3 of frangible material extending'through the lower end of the dog and into the head so as to hold thedog temporarily'in inoperative p0sition. The head 1 may be mounted upon a length of pipe o'r-rod 14 so as to space the headat 8 I i the proper distance' fmm the bottom of the p .In use, the tool, mou nted as shown in" Fig.

-1, and without the shear .pin' 13, may be dropped from the upper-end of the casing o0 'downwardly'to. the bottom. The dog may move upwardly until the key -10reaches the shoulder 7, and willnot interfere with the setting of the tool near the bottom, and at the desired level in the well. As the pipe- 14 at the lower end of the whipstock hits the bottom of the well, the jar will force the dog 8' downwardly to wedge'between the head and the casing so that the teeth 11 will seize into the casing andtend to hold the whipstock firmly against rotation. As may be noted from Fig; 3, the side ofthe head opposite the dog is forced against the casing and the parts will be so securely wedged to 105 the casing is possible. It is also an advantage that the'upperedge ofthe whipstock I,

is held by the wedge firmly against'the' casing so that there is no chance or the milling tool-to get hung up on the said upper edge v- An'1orticed groove 6 ,is formed centrally "of theconcaved surface downwardly to the' 65 the casingssThe upper end, 5, of the .dog-

the shear pin 13, and drive it into locking' position.

When the whipstock is thus set, a milling tool may be lowered into contact with the whipstock and rotated to cut an opening in the side of the casing in the usual manner, to allow passage for the well drill to one side of the junk in the bottom of the hole. The concaved guide surface 4 will hold the mill.- ing cutter properly centered so that a true and clean hole will be cut in the casing, and there is no danger of the rotation of the whipstock to change the position of the openp ing being cut. I will therefore be assured of a clean cut hole without difliculty.

What I claim as new is: r

1.' A whipstoek comprising a lower head portion adapted to fit within a well casing, an upper portion beveled on one side to form an elongated ta er thereon and a 'wedgeshaped dog on tiie lower end of said taper, adapted to move downwardly and wedge said head within said well casing.

2. A whipstock comprising a lower head portion adapted to fit within a'well casing, an u per portion beveled on one side to form an e ongated taper thereon and a wedgeshaped dog on the lower end of said taper adapted to move downwardly and. Wedge said head within said well casing, and teeth on the outer surface of said dog to engage said casing.

3, A whipstock comprising a lower head portion adapted to fit within a well casing, an upper portion beveled on one side to form an elongated taper thereon and 2 wedge-shaped dog on the lower end of said v taper adapted to move downwardly and wedge said head within'said well casing, said dog having a tongue and groove connection with said tapered portion to prevent relative rotation of said dog and said portion.

4. A whipstock comprising a lower head portion shaped to fit within a well casing, an upper portion having an elongated beveled surface on one side, said surface being concaved, a wedge-shaped dog on said beveled surface adjacent the lower end thereof, means to connect said dog slidably to said head, and means to limit the upwardmovement of said dog on said upper portion.

5. A whipstocz comprising a lower head portion shaped to fit within a well casing an upper portion having an elongated beveled surface on one side, said surface being concaved, a wedge-shaped dog on said beveled surface adjacent the lower end thereof, means to connect said dog slidably to said upper portion, means to limit the upward movement of said dog on said upper ortion, and teeth on said dog out longitudinally upon its outer face to engage said casing. v

6. A whipstock body including a lower solid circular head portion, an upper noncircular elongated tapered portion merging with said head portion, and a dog slidably mounted upon the non-circular portion, said dog and said non-circular portions co-acting to form a complete circle.

7 A whipstock body including a lower solid circular head portion, an upper noncircular elongated tapered portion merging with said head portion, and a dog slidably mounted upon the non-circular portion, said dog and said non-circular portions eo-acting to, form a complete circle, said dog comv rising an upper tapered bit engageable sur-; ace and a lower vertically grooved casing engaging surface.

. In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature this 27th day of January, A. D.

HALLIE E. TURNER. 

